Kyle Keogh from Bethlehem Baptist Church in Bay of Plenty, Tauranga, New Zealand brings us this wheelbarrow-ey stage design.

The design was a part of their latest series “In the Wheelbarrow”, which uses the illustration of ‘The Great Blondin’—a famous 1850’s tightrope performer who challenged people to trust him in taking them across a tightrope that spanned Niagara Falls in a wheelbarrow. In the series they utilized this illustration of the wheelbarrow to teach on trust in God and others. To believe is one thing, but it’s not trust until you are in the wheelbarrow.

To support the series they created this stage set which attempts to capture the 1850’s death defying performer theme of Blondin. They used hundreds of plain gold Christmas lights strung from their screen to give that “name in lights” feel but also symbolise a waterfall. They ran wood pallets along the back wall to give an old circus feel and practically to make the lights less distracting.

Coming forward from that they built 2 small staircases and strung a rope across to represent a tightrope. They placed a wheelbarrow on one side as a visual reference for their speaker and continued with a few more lights being placed to highlight these elements.

Safety Warning

Please look into the safety of these stage designs for yourself. Fire and rigging safety is very important, and different states/countries have different fire codes. Refer to this safety article and always ensure you use fire-retardant materials or treatments.